'It does break my heart': Judge reluctantly dismisses charges against suspected Cork drink driver

It broke a District Court judge’s heart to dismiss charges against a suspected drink driver who was extremely abusive to gardaí and paramedics in front of hospital patients at an emergency unit, but he said he had to do so.

Judge John King said that if he could have, he would have jailed Lloyd Cambridge.

Extensive evidence was given at a contested case heard in Cork District Court of Lloyd Cambridge abusing gardaí at the scene of an accident where his car was found overturned on its roof in the middle of the road at St Anne’s Road, Tower, Blarney, County Cork, at around 11.30pm on April 13, 2023.

The 37-year-old from 36 Closes Road, Farranree, Cork, was so uncooperative and abusive to paramedics at the scene that a member of An Garda Síochána had to travel with them for the protection of the ambulance crew. Judge John King was told that the defendant told one garda: “Shut up you useless f***ing c***”, when she was trying to assist him.

Asked if he had driven the crashed car, Lloyd Cambridge said: “I told you, you dopey c*** that I had drink taken and I was driving. I f***ing told you. What kind of stupid c*** are you.” 

In the emergency unit of CUH the evidence was that the defendant said in front of patients and hospital staff to the gardaí and paramedics: “You horrible f***s, I hope ye die, ye’re horrible c***s.” 

Evidence

Judge King heard more evidence along those lines in the case where the defendant pleaded not guilty to engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour at the hospital, and refusing to give a sample of blood or urine for the investigation of suspected driving while intoxicated.

At the close of the prosecution case, defence solicitor Daithí Ó Donnabháin made an application to have those charges dismissed because he said the charges referred to April 13, 2023, but that it was after midnight and that the date should have been April 14, 2023.

Judge King said: “It does break my heart but there is a fundamental defect in the evidence and I dismiss those charges.” 

However, the judge convicted him on counts of driving without a licence and failing to produce his insurance certificate to gardaí in the required time, as the April 13, 2023, date was correct in respect of those matters.

Judge King said he was entitled to take the overall evidence into consideration when penalising the defendant for those charges although those counts did not carry a possible prison sentence.

“He has a very bad attitude. He is lucky I don’t have the right to impose a prison sentence. If I did, he would be going to prison,” the judge said.

He fined him €800 for failing to produce his insurance and fined him another €800 for driving without a licence.

Given the overall context the judge said he was going to make an ancillary order in this case, and he disqualified Lloyd Cambridge from driving for the next four years.

The defence solicitor, Mr Ó Donnabháin said the defendant was fortunate not to have been killed that night as a result of his own driving, and that he spent a week in hospital being treated for his injuries.